The Brontës: Romantic Passion and Social Justice

By: Deborah Morse, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Deborah Morse

Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontë created some of the greatest works of 19th-century English literature. How did these three young women, born into a humble parsonage on the isolated moors of Northern England, write such striking work? What influenced them? How did they get their stories out into the world? Why do their novels continue to grip readers to this day?

These and other questions are what you will explore in The Brontës: Romantic Passion and Social Justice. With Brontë scholar Deborah Denenholz Morse, you will look at the lives of the three Brontë sisters, their family life, experiences, beliefs, motivations - and their many tragedies. As you look closely at the literary and real-world influences that shaped them, you will get a deeper understanding of the astonishing talent and deep drive that pushed these three sisters to write novels like Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. These stories - often full of wind-swept drama and tinged with both personal and Romantic darkness - have gone on to influence the Western literary tradition far beyond what the Brontës themselves could have ever predicted.

The Brontës were deeply influenced by the world around them. Looking into their lives and work, you will get insight into the causes and events that shaped these phenomenal writers - not only their religious and Romantic influences, but also the social justice movements of their age, from women’s rights and anti-poverty campaigns to slavery abolition and early efforts to curb animal cruelty. You will see how their work transcended mere social commentary or embellished autobiography and left their mark on the social and literary trends that would emerge after them.

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Informative and a pleasure to listen to!

Professor Morse's voice has remarkable depth and resonance, and the stories she tells and retells--about the Bronte sisters and the fictions they created--are all the more compelling and memorable as a result. This is a perfect listen for anyone who wants to know more about the commitments and achievements of three remarkable writers who were passionately engaged in the life of their times.

WONDERFUL lecture series!

I have studied the Brontes before, but so much of this was wonderful, new thinking!

Informative and Inspiring

Professor Morse's lectures are informative, insightful, and beautifully delivered. She tells us of the Brönte sisters' upbringing and explains this and the many other influences on their writing. As Professor Morse inspires us to read (or re-read) the Brönte novels, we can only envy the education she gives her William and Mary students.

Powderpuff Bronte Sisters

Long live The Bronte sisters!
What an AMAZING window into their work.
Totally makes you want to reach for one of their novels.

Invigorating Discussion of Classic Social Works

This lecture series is a fascinating look into Charlotte, Emily, and Anne Brontes' published works and the ways they were influenced by and engaged with the social issues of their day. Whether that is women's rights, poverty, slavery abolition, or animal welfare, the Brontes were aware of these intense problems and used their creative expression to demonstrate the cruelties of injustice and horrors of domestic violence. Bronte scholar Deborah Morse mentions classic interpretations of "Jane Eyre" and "Wuthering Heights" while also supplementing my high school knowledge with hew insights.

I loved connecting the Brontes' intellectual upbringing with Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Sir Walter Scott. What a great representation of how important it is to allow young minds free rein of our libraries, rather than censoring books. I also loved hearing those connections between these authors and historical figures speaking publicly about some of these themes during their lifetimes, such as Frederick Douglass.

I am inspired to read Emily's early poetry as well as Anne Bronte's body of work. I am so glad I read this, especially for Women's History Month March 2023, and will be recommending to many.

Author’s Knowledge and Love of Her Subject

I just read Jane Eyre for the first time and loved it. Desiring more context on Charlotte Brontë and the time in which she wrote, I turned to this program. It was a revelation.
Prof. Morse’s vast knowledge of the Brontë sisters and the era in which they lived deepened my understanding of the novel. I felt as if I were in a seminar room with a scholar dedicated to enriching my appreciation of a classic work. Moreover, her exploration of the novel’s complexity has inspired me to read more of the Brontë sisters’ work. Morse reads with enthusiasm and expression in a voice that’s pleasing to the ear. Highly recommended!

Outstanding…

I only wish I could have been in a classroom to engage in discussion with this professor. Any listener will be eager to go back and reread the great writings of the Bronte sisters as well as more modern writers who followed their lead.

So nice to hear these lectures again

I attended William and Mary and took several of Professor Morse's classes, one entirely on the Brontë sisters. It was so nice to listen to this and recognize some of the discussions we had in our classes, and to hear her recite passages from the Brontë novels like she did during our classes. Professor Morse is a brilliant teacher and I'm probably going to listen to this series again soon as I reread the novels.

I hope my nephew can take her class!

I would give anything to go back to college, choose William and Mary, ( if they would have me lol), and get in Professor Morse''s class!!

This was fantastic!

If you love the Brontes this is a must listen!

My nephew starts at W & M this fall and I told my brother about this. :)

Thank you, Audible, for offering this treat!

She’s the best. These essays are the best.

For a very lucky generation or so of students at William and Mary, Professor Deborah Morse has acted as a guide and mentor in decoding British Victorian Literature. You can only imagine the excitement of this middle aged English major to discover that I can listen to these incredible, timely, interesting lectures on my morning walks. They take me straight back to Tucker Hall, where I received the gift of being Professor Morse’s student.

These lecture are relevant, fascinating, and engaging. I only wish that my boys were old enough to have Professor Morse so we could discuss them together.